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This Black Friday Was Not as Good as the Last Black Friday

The annual, and now literal, bloodsport of Black Friday produced what The New York Times described as "gloomy" financial numbers over the long weekend.

By Brian Feldman
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This article is from the archive of our partner .

The annual, and now literal, bloodsport of Black Friday produced what The New York Times described as "gloomy" financial numbers over the long weekend. While 141 million people (a higher number than last year) hit the mall or their computer over the long weekend, total sales decreased by about $1.7 billion, from $59.1 billion in 2012 to $57.4 billion in 2013. The average shopper spent a little over $400.

Part of the Black Friday dip could come from the fact that retailers in general began their holiday season earlier than previous years. According to one survey, "53.8 percent of shoppers surveyed in the first week of November said they had already started their holiday shopping."

In addition, stores like Walmart started their holiday deals at the beginning of November, and Target just went for it, turning Cyber Monday into 'Cyber Week.'

Another interesting statistic comes in terms of mobile shopping. According to an IBM department that track online retailers, 40% of all e-commerce came from mobile devices.

Still, despite the lower sales numbers, there's some good news: nobody got trampled this year. So, congratulations?

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.